


Pansy Parkinson, 19 Years Later

by thusspakekate (orphan_account)



Series: love stories for the new age [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 23:57:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1179481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/thusspakekate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pansy Parkinson never got married. And she didn't grow into that nose, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pansy Parkinson, 19 Years Later

Pansy Parkinson never got married. And she didn't grow into that nose, either.

Her mother's friends kiss her hello, but they never linger to ask how she's been once the pleasantries have been exchanged. They turn away quickly, eyes full of pity, and steer their pig-tailed granddaughters to the other end of the garden. Spinsterhood, they worry, is a catching disease.

She never got married, but she did learn Italian, taught to her by a boy with tanned skin and coarse black hair that curled over amaretto eyes. A native of Amalfi, Niccolo spent a summer at her side. Shirtless, they'd lean back-to-chest along her windowsill, watching the tourists in the Piazza del Duomo, his fingers slowly stroking up her bare arm. He'd begged her to stay once summer turned to autumn, but there were other cities and languages to learn.

Pansy Parkinson never had children either, and the women at work always forget to invite her to their baby showers. When asked, they say they wouldn't want to offend. How hard it must be for her. It would be unkind to flaunt their sacred motherhood in her face, to rub her (rather unfortunate) nose in their indescribable happiness. 

She never had children, but her best friend did. Sometimes she steals young Scorpius from Malfoy Manor, giving his frazzled parents a short reprieve from their parental duties. They visit the zoo to yell at the lions and share a twelve-scoop sundae that makes their teeth ache. When Scorpius begins to tire and starts to whine and cry and make a fuss, she Apparates him home with a pat on the head and returns to the sanctuary of her flat, where a bottle of wine and a white cat await, demanding nothing from her but a scratch behind the ears and a plate of tuna.

She is a curiosity amongst her class. An oddity to some, a tragedy to others. Often a cautionary tale. What happens when girls disobey their parents, when they run around with boys too young and read trashy magazines. When they giggle too loud and make crass jokes, when they pop their gum and daydream about rockstar boyfriends. Listen to your elders, young lady, or you'll end up like Pansy Parkinson. Unmarried and childless with a terrible nose, with nothing to show for your life but dog-eared travel guides and jewelry bought in Marrakesh, love letters from Berliner named Astrid and scar on your leg from a hiking accident in New Zealand. 

How empty her life must be.

If only she'd been kinder. If only she'd been nice and industrious and righteous and just. If only she'd been another sort of girl, a better sort of girl. Then, she could have had her husband and her children and her fairytale ending. How hard for her it must be for her then, settling for her freedom instead.


End file.
